Former Football Star Robert Prosinečki Opens First Padel Centre in Croatia

Model of the new Padel centre which opened last night in Zagreb

Some big names in Croatian sport, including Zvonimir Boban and Ivano Balić, turned out last night at Zagreb show grounds to support former Real Madrid and Barcelona star Robert Prosinečki in his new venture…

Prosinečki and Janko Janković last night opened the first ever Padel Centre in Croatia at Zagreb’s Velesajam. The pair hope to introduce the sport, which started in Mexico in the late 1960s to Croatians.

Prosinecki’s new venutre

Padel is a racket sport typically played in doubles on an enclosed court a third the size of a tennis court. Scoring is the same as normal tennis and the balls used are similar but with a little less pressure, the main differences are that the court has walls and the balls can be played off them in a similar way as in the game of squash and that solid, stringless rackets are used. The height of the ball being served must be at or below the waist level.

Padel racket and ball

Padel is currently most popular in Hispanic American countries such as Argentina and Mexico as well as in Spain, although it is now beginning to spread rapidly across Europe and other continents. Padel Pro Tour (PPT) was the professional Padel Circuit which was created in 2005. Nowadays, the most important padel circuit is World Padel Tour (WPT), which started in Spain though it has already reached international expansion. In 2014 WPT has traveled to Portugal, Argentina and Dubai.